Boiled young soybeans in the pod: Japan's essential izakaya appetiser, finished with coarse sea salt and eaten straight from the pod with cold beer
Origin: Japan
From the journey of Soy.
Edamame (枝豆, literally 'branch beans', from the practice of selling them on the branch at market) is the soybean in its youngest, most direct form: harvested whilst the beans are still bright green and the pods are plump, boiled in heavily salted water, and eaten by squeezing the beans directly from the pod with the fingers. The dish is the simplest possible expression of the soybean, requiring no fermentation, no processing, and no technique beyond boiling and seasoning; and yet it is one of the most pleasurable things to eat in Japanese food culture. Edamame is documented as an Edo period street food in the area around the Ekōin temple in Ryōgoku, where vendors sold boiled fresh soybeans from portable stalls to the crowds attending sumo wrestling matches. The combination of fresh, green, and mildly sweet soybeans with the slight bitterness of the pod and the floral savouriness of coarse salt became inseparable from the Japanese izakaya (informal pub) experience: the first thing ordered with the first cold beer, eaten slowly whilst the rest of the menu is considered. In Japan, edamame is strictly seasonal: the brief window between midsummer and early autumn when the soybeans are harvested green is anticipated as eagerly as the cherry blossom season in spring. Regional varieties are prized for their flavour distinctions: the Damappa variety from Yamagata prefecture, with its intense sweetness; the Chagomame of Niigata, slightly richer in flavour; and the Yuagari Musume of Hokkaido, whose name ('Freshly Bathed Girl') reflects the Edo period custom of eating edamame immediately after bathing in summer. The global spread of Japanese restaurant culture in the late 20th century made edamame the most widely recognised Japanese appetiser outside Japan, served frozen and pre-shelled in sushi bars and supermarkets worldwide: an extraordinary journey for what is simply a young soybean pod boiled in salt water.
Fresh edamame is vastly superior to frozen in flavour and texture, but frozen edamame is an entirely acceptable substitute for most of the year. Fresh edamame in season (July to September in Japan; May to August in temperate Western gardens) should be cooked within a day of harvest: the sugars convert rapidly to starch after picking. If you can buy edamame still attached to the branch, pull the pods off yourself: you will have the freshest possible product. The salt rubbing step is worth doing for any preparation; it removes the fine surface hairs that can make the pod feel rough and improves the overall eating experience.
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